Old Bolts 'A' 1  Howe Bridge Mills Reserves 1

The weather conditions could be described as tricky at best up at Turton. The Old Bolts team talk stressed the need to keep the ball on the floor and use the perfect pitch surface as opposed to taking a chance with the gale-force winds. We were also fairly keen to exact revenge for our recent 3-0 defeat to this opposition.

Suitably warmed up and revved up, Old Bolts immediately imposed themselves on the opposition making full use of the wind at their backs. A few early chances were stopped in their tracks by a referee who seemed to believe that if you were not being marked then you must be offside. Still, he did not really need to know the rules as he merely made decisions based on who appealed the loudest.

The breakthrough came early and it went in favour of Old Bolts. A swift break out on the right, saw Kemp look up and play a through ball to Ellis. The referee must have temporarily misplaced his whistle and gave Ellis enough time to slip the ball past the advancing keeper.

Strong challenges in midfield and solidity at the back continued and it was Old Bolts who continued to look the more likely. Beardall began to get more involved in the game and showed some great skill and was unfortunate to see his long range effort come crashing back off the crossbar.

1-0 up at half-time, but the second half would require real character dealing with confident opposition and a strong wind. Fortunately, this team does contain character and it showed throughout the second half. Old Bolts came under continued pressure and were forced to change personnel after injuries to Kemp and Ishaque. Arnold and Witter dug in and harassed the opposition and won all the key challenges. Chipper Timmis and Davids won tackle after tackle and kept the opposition at bay and were supported admirably by Lynch and Ishaque. In similar fashion to the previous weeks, if the back line was breached, Roberts pulled off key saves.

Sadly, the opposition managed to put a few passes together and equalised with a few minutes remaining, despite genuine protests of offside. Old Bolts hit back though and Hughes had what appeared to be a perfectly good goal disallowed for, yes you have guessed it, offside. Arnold then crashed a spectacular freekick against the crossbar and Witter was unable to put the rebound in to the net (and indeed unable to keep his shot within the same postcode). For their contribution to the Old Bolts cause, they both deserved a bit more luck.

A good result for an improving team. The opposition will feel that they deserved a draw and on the balance of play, they did. Still, the desire to keep going and get that clean sheet from the A team was great to see and we can carry that drive in to next week.

Man of the Match - Andy Witter – showed great energy for the 90 minutes